Combination gun and camera



Jan. 24, 1939. Q w ATKlN ET AL 2,144,909

COMBINATION GUN AND CAMERA Filed Oct. 50, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTO RS OWE/v 14 ArK/N ATTORN EY Jan. 24, 1939. o. w; ATKIN ET AL 2,144,909

COMBINATION GUN AND CAMERA Filed Oct. 30, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTO F215 OWE/V WAT/0N ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 24, 1939 hear 2,144,909 COINATKON GUN AND CAMERA Owen W. Atkin,

Fisher,

Application October 30',

2 Claims.

Our invention relates to firearms, and more particularly to a firearm, such, for example, as a pistol or revolver, having incorporated therein camera means .for photographing objects at 5 which the firearm is aimed.

This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending applicationentitled Camera attachment for firearms, Serial No. 24,942, filed Juned, 1935. 7

Although our invention has a valuable use in various arts, industries, and sports, it is especially valuable for police work. By the use of this invention a photographic record may be obtained of any criminal or other person at which the firearm is aimed or discharged, which record is extremely valuable in case of escape.

It is an object of our invention to provide a firearm which includes a motion picture mechanism operatively connected to the firearm, and

2% which enables the taking of a motion picture of the person aimed at. This enables the obtaining of a permanent record of the person's appearance and also his characteristic actions, both of which are valuable for purposes of identification.

It is an object of our invention to provide a firearm incorporating the features pointed out heretofore, or part of them, in which the control means which controls the operation of the motion picture mechanism may be operated with 3d the trigger finger of the'person using the firearm and will not in any way interfere with the normal or usual operation or handling of the firearm.

The photographic record which may be obtained by the use of our invention is valuable as evidence to prove the perpetration of a crime. If a criminal is caught in the act and a picture of his actions is taken before firing the pistol, during the firing of the pistol, and after the fir- 40 ing of the pistol, or without firing the pistol, a

record is obtained which may be very useful in court.

It is an object of our invention to provide a pistol or revolver including motion picture mechanism operable in connection with the mechanism for firing the pistol, and which may be operated before, during, or after the firing of the pistol, or may be operated without firing"'the pistol, or may be continuously operated even though a series of shots are fired; and in which the operation of the motion picture mechanism does not interfere use of the firearm;

It is an object of our invention to provide for incorporation in a pistol a motion picture mechwith the normal or customary West Los Angeles, and Philip Ocean Park, Calif.

1936, Serial No. 108,406 (cl. 88--17) I anism which maybe associated with the pistol without disturbing its balance, without interfering with the aiming or firing of the pistol, which will not interfere with the removal or the insertion of the pistol in the which is compactly arranged ordinary holster, and below the barrel in the triangular space positioned below the barrel and ahead of the trigger guard.

' It is a further object of our invention to provide a firearm of the character pointed out heretofore including a motion picture mechanism which is simple and compact in its design, which is readily attachable to pistols already in use, or which may be built into new pistols, in which the parts are uniquely arranged so that they may be operatively conne cted to the pistol and adapted for operation with or independent of the trigger of the pistol.

It is a further object of our invention to provide a construction of the in the preceding paragraphin which a character pointed out motor is A still further object. of

a firearm as pointed out heretofore in provide v which the spools carrying our invention is to the unexposed and the exposed film and thecontrol means which controls the operation of the anism are located to the motion picture -mechrear, and the film advancingand shutter mechanism islocated in front of the motor.

It isa further object of our invention to provide a construction in which all of the working parts are mounted on a plate and may be light proof case of the,

installed as a unit in the invention, and in which operated through a chain jacent said plate.

The preferred the various parts are of gears mounted adform of our invention to be disclosed herein is the result of a large amount of development work and design and there are additional objects and advantages of our inven' tion which are so numerous that they will be pointed out in the course of the following description.

For the purpose of illustrating our invention to those skilled in the art we have preferred form of our, invention.

be understood, however,

tions and modifications may departing from the spirit selected a It should that various alterabe made without and scope of our invention, and, therefore, we do not wish our patent protection to be limi ted to the details described herein but intend that the invention shall be broadly construed both as to its entire combination and subcombinations in accordance with the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a firearm incor-- porating the features of our invention.

Fig. 241s an elevational view taken as indicated by the arrow 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. v3 is' a longitudinal sectional view which forms a part of our invention, which view is taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2. ,w'fli-fl' Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive are fragmentary sectional views taken on the lines 44 to 1-1 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of the release means which forms a part of the control means for controlling the operation of the camera mechanism.

Fig. 9 is a section taken on the line 9-4! 01 Fig. 5.

The firearm of our invention in the preferred form illustrated herein includes a pistol having a. barrel I a body I2 a grip or handle l4, a trigger l5 operatively connected to themech'anism which operates the hammer l6, and further includes a trigger guard H, which parts, of course, are in accordance with standard firearm construction. Adapted to be secured to the pistol is a case generally designated by the numeral l9, which case includes a housing 20 and a cover 2| hinged at 22 to the housing 20 and releasably locked in closed position by means of a snap lock 23. The case is shaped so that it may fit in the triangular space which is formed below the barrel H and in front of the body I! and finger guard l The case, as will be noted, is shaped at 24 to closely fit these parts and to provide a. recess for receiving the shell-ejection plunger 25. The upper wall of the housing 20 is provided with an attaching means in the form of a. semi-cylindrical member 26 which is shaped to fitaround the barrel The forward partof the housing supports a camera lens 21. The attaching means 26 and the lens 21 are preferably in accurate alignment so that the lens is supported parallel to the axis of the barrel II with respect to a vertical plane. With respect to a horizontal plane, the axes of the barrel and lens may converge to meet at any point a distance from the muzzle of the pistol. To hold the housing ,an additional attaching means, such as a screw 28 which screws into the body l2, may be provided.

Adapted to be secured tothe side wall of the case I9 is a mounting plate 30, there being suitable screws 3| provided for this purpose. This mounting plate 30 supports the motion picture mechanism which may be assembled on the mounting plate and thereafter installed'as a unit in the case Hi. This mounting plate 30' supports various shafts which in turn carry gears, spools, and other parts of the apparatus which will now be described.

Our invention provides a motor 35 which ineludes a central shaft 36 supported by the mounting plate 30 and a shell 31 which encloses a coil spring or clock spring 38. The inner end of this spring 38 is connected to the shaft 36, and the outer end thereof is connected to the shell 31. By rotating the shell 31 in an anti-clockwise direction the spring may be wound up and thereafter tends to drive the shell of the motor in a drives the various parts of the motion picture mechanism.

Secured to the mounting plate 30 in a position ahead of the motor 35 in a plane extending perpendicular to the axis of the lens This an aperture plate 4| having an aperture 42 through which the frames of the film handled by the mechanism.

may be exposed. Positioned in the case to the rear of the motor 35 and secured to the mount ing plate 30 is a shaft 44 which supports alight guard 45 adapted to enclose a raw-film spool 46. The light guard 45 includes a base 41 detachably connected to the mounting plate 3!] by aligning pins 48 and having a mouth 49 through which 1 the raw film, as indicated 50, may be extended forwardly over the guide roller 5| downwardly along the rear face of the aperture plate 4| under a guide roller 52 and rearwardly to a take-up spool 53, the film 50 being held against the rear face of the aperture plate 4| by means of a pressure plate 54. The size of the film in'the form of our invention is 16 mm., and the spools will accommodate 5 feet of film with 48 frames to the foot.

The take-up spool'53 is removably supported on a shaft 51 secured to the mounting plate 30 and has a gear 58 positioned adjacent the mounting plate 30 whereby the take-up spool may be rotated in a clockwise direction. This take-up spool 58 is mounted in an extreme rearward position at the lower. part of the case and is driven through a chain of gears 59, 60, 6|, and G2, the gears 59 and 60 being rotatable on a shaft 63; the gear 6| being rotatable on a shaft 64, and the gear 62 being rotatable on a shaft 65, which shafts are mounted on the mounting plate-30. The chain of gears just mentioned is driven by engagement of the drive gear 39 with the ear 59.

A control means is provided by our invention whereby the mechanism may be set into operation. This control means in the form of our invention disclosed herein includes an auxiliary trigger ID, the lower end of which is pivoted at the lower end of the trigger l5 of the pistol on a pivot pin II. This auxiliary trigger is, as shown, positioned in front of the trigger I5, and the trigger finger of the person using the pistol engages the auxiliary trigger 10 and the first action which occurs is the movement of the auxiliary trigger I0 .rearwardly into a position indicated by dotted lines 12, at which time the pressure is transmitted to the trigger .|5 and thereafter the auxiliary trigger and the trigger move rearwardly together in order to discharge the firearm. The upper end of the auxiliary trigger has a connecting means in the form of a small wire or rod 13 connected to it in any suitable manner, such as by a lock screw 14. This connecting means 13 extends forwardly through an opening 16 formed in the trigger guard l1, through an opening 11 formed in the case I 9, and into the interior of the case. The forward part of the connecting means includes a coil spring 18 and is connected to the upper end of an operating lever 19 which is pivoted on a shaft 80, which shaft is mounted on the mounting plate 30. Pivotally supported on a shaft 83 which is mounted on the mounting plate 30 is a pawl 84 which extends downwardly and has a follower pin 85 supported at its lower end, which follower pin 85 extends outwardly through a'slot 86 formed in the operating lever 19. The pawl 84 has a tooth 83 adapted to engage teeth of a ratchet wheel 89 which is connected to the gear 6|. The pawl 84 is normally held in engagement with the ratchet wheel 89 by means of a coil spring 9| which 51 arse-poo rounds the shaft 83. In this manner the mechanism is held from operation, since the gear ti is prevented from rotating, and since the gear 65 is connected through the gears 5e and 59 with the drive gear 39 of the motor 35. By moving the auxiliary trigger it rearwardly into dotted line position the pawl 88 is moved into a released position as shown in Fig. 8, and the ratchet wheel ad is released, thus allowing the mechanism to operate.

For the purpose of controlling the speed at which the mechanism operates we provide a governor construction which is shown best in Fig. 6. Keyed to the shaft El so that it may move axially on the shaft but not rotate, is a friction plate 92 which is pressed into frictional engagement with the adjacent face of the ratchet wheel as by means of a compression spring 93. The amount of pressure exerted by the pressure plate 92 is determined by the position of the adjusting and loci; nuts 9d which are threadedly positioned on the shaft t i. This governor means is preferably adjusted so that camera mechanism will'operate to move the film at approximately 16 frames per second.

For the purpose of advancing the film with relation to the aperture 62, we provide film advancing mecha'nism' which is illustrated best in Figs. 3, 5, and 9. Mounted on a shaft 500, which shaft is supported by the mounting plate 3%), is a plate in! having an eccentric pivot H12 on which an advancing arm M33 is pivotally supported. The free end of the advancing arm 33 has 9.

- guide pin We which extends into a vertical slot W5 formed in a flange of the aperture plate HI. The upper rearward part of the arm 503 has a film engaging finger 508 which is adapted, during the operation of the apparatus, to extend into perforations of the film 5t and advancethe film downwardly. When the plate "II is rotated in its normal clockwise direction the operation of the arm W3 is as follows. As the upper end of the stroke is passed the lower end of the arm 9% moves forwardly and downwardly, while the upper end of the arm swings rearwardly and downwardly. This brings the film advancing finger it into a perforation on the film and engages the lower wall of the perforation so that as the rotation of the plate IM continues the whole arm its moves downwardly, thus advancing the film. When the lower end of the stroke is reached, the lower end of the arm ")3 moves I trigger 10. When it is desired to make a pho 'ographic record the user of the gun depresses t, e

rearwardly, which swings the upper end of the arm forwardly out of engagement with the film, and thereafter the arm movesupwardly out of contact with the film to its uppermost position, after which it again engages the film and the advancing operation is repeated. The film advancing mechanism is operated through a chain of'gears H18, H33, and He. The gears 188 and me are rotatable on a shaft Hi mounted on the mounting plate 38, while the gear He is formed integral with theplate NH. The gear 38 engages the drive gear 38 and is thus operated by the motor 35.

Our invention also provides a shutter mechanism whereby light is admitted to the frameof the film in alignment with the aperture 52 during the time that the film is stationary. The shutter, as shown in Figs. 3 and i, is in the form of a hollow cylinder H2 having two openings 1 it arranged on opposite sides of the cylinder. This cylinder is rotatable on a shaft H5 which is mounted on the mounting plate 39. Connected to the shutter i it is a gear 8 which meshes with an idler gear ill which is rotatable on a shaft H8 and which is engaged by the gear Hi). It will be seen, therefore, that the actions of the film advancing mechanism and the shutter are correlated. Figs. 3 and.& show the position of the parts just as the film has been disengaged at the lower end of the stroke of the film advancing mechanism. During the time that the film is moved the openings Ht are disaligned with the lens 2? and no light reaches the film. Surroundingthe shutter H2 is a light shield I20 which, on the rearward part, has a rectangular light conduit iii which extends to the aperture 412. This directs any light which passes through the lens 21 to the aperture id. The light shield is secured to the mounting plate 30 by screws 3 extending through ears i2 3 of the light shield. I

The motion picture mechanism is especially designed for compactness and light weight so that it may be secured in the triangular space up spool 53 where it is connected to the hub thereof. A small amount of slack is left, as indicated at I25, to assure the film will not be injured, since the take-up spool 53 is continuously rotated while the film is intermittently advanced across the aperture 32. However, the film advancing mechanism, which moves the film only during half of its rotation, is geared to operate or rotate twice as fast as the take-up spool so that the advancing mechanism advances the film sufficiently to permit the winding of the film thereon without injury to the film. Furthermore, as the film is wound ontothe take-up spool 53 the diameter increases, but the film advancing mechanism advances the film sufficiently to compensate for this. After the film has been threaded through the apparatus as explained, the cover 2i is, of course, closed so that the interior of the case is protected from the light.

.When it is desired to use the gun the hand of the person using same in the ordinary fashion, and the trigger finger instead of engaging the trigger i5 engages the auxiliary auxiliary trigger I0, moving it rearwardly into a position indicated by dotted lines I2 of Fig. 3.

This swings the lever 19 rearwardly and the pawl M is disengaged from the ratchet wheel 89. This it miles in plained and transmits light to the frame of the film adjacent the aperture 42 during the time that the film is stationary.

It will be seen that the motion picture mechanism may be operated without discharging the it is desired to discharge the gun. However, if gun, the trigger greater distance and finger is pulled rearwardly a the trigger i5 is pulled rearwardly, thus operating the hammer and firing a shot.- The trigger l5 may then be allowed to return to its original position without, however, releasing the auxiliary trigger l0, and the motion picture mechanism may therefore continue to operate. In this manner one or a se- 'ries of shots may be fired while maintaining the motion picture mechanism in operation. It is quite apparent from the foregoing that it is possible to continuously operate the motion picture mechanism either with or without discharging the gun.

It is believed that from the foregoing detailed description the mode and manner in which the various objects of our invention have been accomplished are quite evident and that the preferred form of our invention herein described and illustrated is susceptible of alteration and modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which are defined by the accc'mpanyingtclaims.

We claim as our invention:

1 A combination firearm and motion picture photographic apparatus including a trigger on said firearm, a supplementary trigger pivoted to said firearm trigger at one end thereof and lying along and normally spaced forwardly therefrom, and means connecting the other end of said supplementary trigger to said photographic apparatus whereby when the supplementary trigger is pressed thephotographic apparatus will be ac tuated to cause pictures to be taken and furthe actuation of said supplementary trigger will caus actuation of said firearm trigger to discharge th firearm,

2. A device of the class described, comprisin the combination of: a pistol having a barrel, body portion, a trigger and a trigger guard; 1 light, proof case secured to said pistol in a posi tion below said barrel, said light proof case hem of triangular shape to fill the triangular spac below the barrel and in front of the body an the trigger guard; motionpicture photographi mechanism having a pawl device to control th operation thereof whereby a motion picture cai be taken of an object aimediat; and a supple mentary trigger pivoted at one end to the em of said pistol tri'gger lying along and normall; spaced forwardly therefrom, and means connect ing the other end of said supplementary trigge to the pawl device of said motion picture mecha nism whereby when the supplementary trigge is pressed the motion picture apparatus will b actuated to cause pictures to be taken and fur ,ther actuation of said supplementary trigger wil cause the actuation of said pistol trigger tc discharge said pistol.

OWEN W. A'I'KIN. PHILIP FISHER. 

